A slightly different pickup question

[Coach]

Hi all,

 

I need some advise from anyone who wants to give it. For Humbucker charged guitars I currently have both my trusty Epi Dot and an Aria LP copy. I was playing some ZZ Top style R&R the other day and grabbed the Aria. Just could not get a really good tone out of the stock Seymore Duncans. I then picked up my trusty Epi and got much closer to the tone, but the Dot was a bit "rounder" then I needed, not really the chimey bell like tone I wanted. Plus the Dot was right at the edge ( and beyond ) of feeding back like a monster at the volumes I was playing at.

 

The Epi does blues and early Cream style rock just perfectly, what I am looking for is a suggestion of what I could put into the Aria to get a harder rock rhythm sound. One of my buds said I should watch for a used set of 57 Classics, would that get me in the right direction?

 

Thanks,

-Harry

[capmaster]

I'm pretty sure the Seymour Duncans aren't bad at all. I don't have an overview of the actual pickup aftermarket, but I guess there will some other members chime in who have. Perhaps it would be useful to know for comparison what Seymour Duncan models came stock in your Aria guitar.

[deeman]

What amp are you using?

[Coach]

I am not sure what these are, I will have to research a bit more.

 

As for amps I play through a Super Champ X2. Sounds great with my single coil and with the Dot. To hit the tone I am looking for I was playing with some of the Marshall simulations as well as overdriven Fender tones.

 

Thanks for the replies,

Harry

[Bender 4 Life]

i've gotten some really good Billy Gibbons tones from unexpected p'ups.

much of the time he records w/an early 50s Tele with a scorching hot bridge p'up (and a hole where the neck p'up should be., in that vein I use a homebuilt Tele w/a Kent Armstrong Hot Twinblade in the bridge.

another surpriser is the stock humbucker in my Mexi Fat Strat.

 

 

good luck in your Tone Quest !!

[kidblast]

you'd have to know what brand of Duncans were in there.

 

for after market pickups, Duncans are usually quite impressive. But pickups are quite subjective, so it's really what you're looking for.

[milod]

Just did a quick check on your amp.

 

I'll wager that much of your difficulty is a combination of amp and guitar settings more than anything.

 

I always say "we" too often forget that an electric guitar is at minimum an instrument of two parts - guitar and its "stuff," and the amp and its "stuff."

 

In theory you should be able to get about anything out of your amp, both the electronic side and the speaker side.

 

Most folks who have decided to chase a "tone" they have in their heads will end up spending bundles of money on stomp boxes, extra amps, replacing speakers, blocking the back of an open cab, changing guitar pups and electronics, etc., etc., etc.

 

Most at that point then also are convinced - and to an extent they certainly are correct, again, to an extent - that they have gotten much closer to what they want.

 

Me, I'm convinced there are so many acoustics factors involved, plus a combined batch of guitar and amp settings, that I personally doubt that anyone will get more than "maybe it's close enough" to what they hope for if a specific "sound" is their goal.

 

Frankly were I looking for a specific sound, I'd spend an awful lotta time messing with guitar and amp settings before I spend another penny of money. Bottom line is that strings vibrate, and then that is converted to an electric signal that is run through some electronic stuff to modify the signal, then it goes to another batch of electronics that further modify the signal, then it's put into a magnet-thingie that converts that final electric signal into vibrations we call "sound." That final "magnet-thingie" itself plays a big role in what we hear.

 

So many variables...

 

The SS input sector on the amp itself should offer many, many variables to play with that a pure tube amp lack control over, and Fender's software offers additional options.

 

Point is, IMHO you've first gotta figure how to balance all of these variables into settings that get you close to what you hope to get in terms of that vibrating "magnet-thingie" (or "thingies) providing what it is you want your ears - unique mechanical devices that convert vibrating air into nerve impulses then processed by a very complex biological computer - hope to hear.

 

Whew.

 

<grin>

 

One point I learned about the Fender software, too - it translates a bit differently with different instruments. But then, so do all amps...

 

m

[deeman]

New pickups will make a difference but amp settings will make more of a difference. Try a compressor or a boose in front of the amp, that may tighten things up and give you a nice tone. Those Champion amps are pretty nice low watt amps. I find it hard to believe you wouldn't be able to get a classic rock tone out of it. Play around with the amp some more. Take some time between the guitars as well as you my experience ear fatigue.

[Coach]

Thanks for a splash of reality!

 

You guys are of course right, I need to spend some more time on the amp side.

 

My main guitar is a strat and I have some nice tones dialed in for that guitar, the Dot just sounds really sweet whatever amp setting I use.

 

I guess I just wanted to be able to plug it in and get a good tone out of the gate with the Aria. Yes lazy is as lazy does!

 

Thanks again, back to the woodshed for me.

-Harry